Overview
London was the setting for Shakespeare’s highly successful career as actor, playwright and impresario. Stratford-on-Avon was the place of his birth and death, his youth and retirement, but there is practically nothing there that pertains to the plays or poems.
Why has this little Warwickshire town lodged in people’s minds as the Shakespeare place? Ardent promotion by Garrick onwards is one factor, while celebration of Shakespearean sites in the City has been surprisingly mute. Another is that whereas Shakespeare would recognise much of Stratford, which is indeed one of the prettiest little towns in England, he would be severely challenged to find his way around modern London.
Yet despite repeated conflagration and comprehensive rebuilding, he would recognise the pattern of streets in much of the City, and their names, and would even know several of the buildings. Here and in the immediate neighbourhoods are the identifiable locations of theatres with which he had some association and of lodgings and property he owned. The plays make numerous references to London places.
There is a visit to the Rose Playhouse and the Guildhall for a special viewing of the 1623 First Folio; we drop in to Southwark Cathedral and the National Portrait Gallery, but it must be said that this is largely a ‘site of’ tour. Nevertheless, the walk is strangely moving, surprisingly illuminating and remarkably informative. The sites provide a springboard for an understanding of the topographical and historical context in which the plays were written, and a powerful aid to coming closer to Shakespeare the man and the writer.
The day culminates with a performance of Much Ado about Nothing directed by Matthew Dunster, Associate Director at The Globe. Shakespeare’s comedy is transported to a vibrant Mexico in 1910.
The lecturer, Dr Charles Nicholl, is author of the acclaimed Shakespeare study The Lodger, and award-winning The Reckoning, a study of Christopher Marlowe, and of the National Portrait Gallery guide to Shakespeare and his literary contemporaries.
Start
12.40pm, National Portrait Gallery.
Finish
c.10.30pm, Globe Theatre.
Price
£245. This includes top category tickets at £45 and a £5 ticket for the yard, dinner, refreshments, taxis, one admission charge and donations.
More information about London Days gift vouchers.
Fitness
Travel is by taxi, and there is a lot of walking and standing.
Are you fit enough to join the tour?
Group size
Maximum 18 participants.
Cancellation
We will return the full amount if you notify us 22 or more days before the event. We will retain 50% if cancellation is made within three weeks and 100% if within three days. Please put your cancellation in writing to info@martinrandall.co.uk. We advise taking out insurance in case of cancellation and recommend that overseas clients are also covered for possible medical and repatriation costs.
